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The Innocents Abroad

Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress

By:
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Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins

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Overall

573

Performance

511

Story

513

In June 1867, Mark Twain set out for Europe and the Holy Land on the paddle steamer Quaker City. His enduring, no-nonsense guide for the first-time traveler also served as an antidote to the insufferably romantic travel books of the period.

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Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Unabridged

Overall

315

Performance

272

Story

269

The Mississippi River, known as “America’s River” and Mark Twain are practically synonymous in American culture. The popularity of Twain’s steamboat and steamboat pilot on the ever-changing Mississippi has endured for over a century. A brilliant amalgam of remembrance and reportage, by turns satiric, celebratory, nostalgic, and melancholy,
Life on the Mississippi evokes the great river that Mark Twain knew as a boy and young man and the one he revisited as a mature and successful author.

Whispersync deal

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A Tramp Abroad

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins

Unabridged

Overall

77

Performance

66

Story

67

In April 1878, Mark Twain and his family traveled to Europe. Overloaded with creative ideas, Twain had hoped that the sojourn would spark his creativity enough to bring at least one of the books in his head to fruition. Instead, he wrote of his walking tour of Europe, describing his impressions of the Black Forest, the Matterhorn, and other attractions. Neglected for years,
A Tramp Abroad sparkles with Twain’s shrewd observations and highly opinionated comments on Old World culture.

A hoot

By
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The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Robin Field

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

97

Performance

66

Story

65

These stories display Twain's place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and a pervasive equalitarian attitude.

Great but incomplete

By
Tad Davis
on
03-23-10

Pudd'nhead Wilson

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Bobbie Frohman

Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins

Unabridged

Overall

55

Performance

47

Story

49

Another of Mark Twain's best-selling yarns of skullduggery and mischief. Set in the deep South,
Pudd'nhead Wilson is the central character as an attorney who solves a murder mystery and lays bare the wicked deeds of a larger-than-life ensemble of personalities in his own wry and peculiar way.

Terrible overacting by the narrators

By
Janine
on
05-24-16

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Nick Offerman

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Unabridged

Overall

918

Performance

857

Story

861

With his trademark mirth and boundless charisma, actor Nick Offerman brought the loveable shenanigans of Twain's adolescent hero to life in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Now, in yet another virtuosic performance, the actor proves that despite being separated by a span of over a century, his connection to the author and his work is undeniable and that theirs is a timeless collaboration that should not be missed.

Mark Twain and Nick Offerman are a perfect match

By
Philip M. Chute
on
10-23-17

The Innocents Abroad

Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins

Unabridged

Overall

573

Performance

511

Story

513

In June 1867, Mark Twain set out for Europe and the Holy Land on the paddle steamer Quaker City. His enduring, no-nonsense guide for the first-time traveler also served as an antidote to the insufferably romantic travel books of the period.

Twain's Hidden Gem

By
Cynthia Franks
on
05-08-12

Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Unabridged

Overall

315

Performance

272

Story

269

The Mississippi River, known as “America’s River” and Mark Twain are practically synonymous in American culture. The popularity of Twain’s steamboat and steamboat pilot on the ever-changing Mississippi has endured for over a century. A brilliant amalgam of remembrance and reportage, by turns satiric, celebratory, nostalgic, and melancholy,
Life on the Mississippi evokes the great river that Mark Twain knew as a boy and young man and the one he revisited as a mature and successful author.

Whispersync deal

By
Ben
on
09-11-14

A Tramp Abroad

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins

Unabridged

Overall

77

Performance

66

Story

67

In April 1878, Mark Twain and his family traveled to Europe. Overloaded with creative ideas, Twain had hoped that the sojourn would spark his creativity enough to bring at least one of the books in his head to fruition. Instead, he wrote of his walking tour of Europe, describing his impressions of the Black Forest, the Matterhorn, and other attractions. Neglected for years,
A Tramp Abroad sparkles with Twain’s shrewd observations and highly opinionated comments on Old World culture.

A hoot

By
Tad Davis
on
05-12-11

The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Robin Field

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

97

Performance

66

Story

65

These stories display Twain's place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and a pervasive equalitarian attitude.

Great but incomplete

By
Tad Davis
on
03-23-10

Pudd'nhead Wilson

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Bobbie Frohman

Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins

Unabridged

Overall

55

Performance

47

Story

49

Another of Mark Twain's best-selling yarns of skullduggery and mischief. Set in the deep South,
Pudd'nhead Wilson is the central character as an attorney who solves a murder mystery and lays bare the wicked deeds of a larger-than-life ensemble of personalities in his own wry and peculiar way.

Terrible overacting by the narrators

By
Janine
on
05-24-16

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Nick Offerman

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Unabridged

Overall

918

Performance

857

Story

861

With his trademark mirth and boundless charisma, actor Nick Offerman brought the loveable shenanigans of Twain's adolescent hero to life in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Now, in yet another virtuosic performance, the actor proves that despite being separated by a span of over a century, his connection to the author and his work is undeniable and that theirs is a timeless collaboration that should not be missed.

Irreverent, charming, and eminently quotable, this handbook - an eccentric etiquette guide for the human race - contains 69 aphorisms, anecdotes, whimsical suggestions, maxims, and cautionary tales from Mark Twain’s private and published writings. It dispenses advice and reflections on family life and public manners; opinions on topics such as dress, health, food, and childrearing and safety; and more specialized tips, such as those for dealing with annoying salesmen and burglars.

Mark Twain is Hilarious!

By
tracy
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Letters from the Earth

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Carl Reiner

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Unabridged

Overall

120

Performance

88

Story

87

Here we see Twain on a somewhat personal level. Penniless and having just lost his wife and one of his children, Twain turns to writing about God, Christianity, and the many curious natures of man. This collection was so controversial that his daughter prohibited its publication until 52 years after his death.

A must read for thinking people

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Charles
on
11-28-11

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Nick Offerman

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Unabridged

Overall

2,422

Performance

2,249

Story

2,240

A natural storyteller and raconteur in his own right - just listen to Paddle Your Own Canoe and Gumption - actor, comedian, carpenter, and all-around manly man Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) brings his distinctive baritone and a fine-tuned comic versatility to Twain's writing. In a knockout performance, he doesn't so much as read Twain's words as he does rejoice in them, delighting in the hijinks of Tom - whom he lovingly refers to as a "great scam artist" and "true American hero".

Reading from a new perspective

By
jb
on
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Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1

The Complete and Authoritative Edition

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 24 hrs and 50 mins

Unabridged

Overall

678

Performance

367

Story

375

The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain’s death. In celebration of this important milestone, here, for the first time, is Mark Twain’s uncensored autobiography, in its entirety, exactly as he left it. This major literary event offers the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain’s authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave, as he intended.

Part diary, part autobiography

By
Tad Davis
on
11-17-10

Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 26 hrs and 22 mins

Unabridged

Overall

108

Performance

98

Story

100

Mark Twain's complete, uncensored
Autobiography was an instant best seller when the first volume was published in 2010, on the centennial of the author's death, as he requested. Published to rave reviews, the
Autobiography was hailed as the capstone of Twain's career. It captures his authentic and unsuppressed voice, speaking clearly from the grave and brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions. The eagerly awaited second volume delves deeper into Twain's life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds.

The way it should be done.

By
Ian
on
10-16-13

Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 3

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 24 hrs and 56 mins

Unabridged

Overall

53

Performance

53

Story

52

When the first volume of Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography was published in 2010, it was hailed as an essential addition to the shelf of his works and a crucial document for our understanding of the great humorist's life and times. This third and final volume crowns and completes his life's work. Like its companion volumes, it chronicles Twain's inner and outer life through a series of daily dictations that go wherever his fancy leads.

Worth waiting for

By
Tad Davis
on
12-09-15

Roughing It

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Robin Field

Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins

Unabridged

Overall

16

Performance

14

Story

14

"To Calvin H. Higbie, of California, an honest man, a genial comrade and a steadfast friend," this book is inscribed by the author, "in memory of the curious time when we two were millionaires for ten days." So the witty Mark Twain dedicates his second travelogue and charming SEMI-sequel to
The Innocents Abroad.

Following the Equator

A Journey around the World

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Michael Kevin

Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins

Unabridged

Overall

62

Performance

43

Story

45

Bound on a lecture trip around the world, Mark Twain turns his keen satiric eye to foreign lands in
Following the Equator. This vivid chronicle of a sea voyage on the Pacific Ocean displays Twain's eye for the unusual, his wide-ranging curiosity, and his delight in embellishing the facts.
Following the Equator is an evocative and highly unique American portrait of 19-century travel and customs.

Onae of Mark Twain's least characteristic books

By
Arkent
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Life on the Mississippi

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Stephen L. Vernon

Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins

Unabridged

Overall

10

Performance

10

Story

9

The mighty Mississippi River is the backdrop for this charming and adventurous tale. Samuel Clemens, who is better known as Mark Twain, began his Mississippi adventure as a riverboat captain and decided to pen a journal, recording the Mark Twain classic, Life on the Mississippi. Twain writes of the history of the river and relates his own adventures and misadventures as he seeks his fortune.

The Humorous Short Stories of Mark Twain

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Bobbie Frohman

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Unabridged

Overall

99

Performance

89

Story

88

The master storyteller amuses and entertains with a collection of stories which includes: "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg", "The Double Barrelled Detective Story", "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", "The Million Dollar Bank Note", "Benton and Mills", "A Tale", "Cannibalism in the Cars", "The Stolen White Elephant", "The Man Who Put Up at Gadsby's", "The Good Little Boy", "The Bad Little Boy", and "Baker's Blue Jay Yarn".

Poorly Edited

By
Candice
on
10-21-13

Two Years Before the Mast

By:
Richard Henry Dana

Narrated by:
Bernard Mayes

Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins

Unabridged

Overall

169

Performance

103

Story

101

Richard Henry Dana, a law student turned sailor for health reasons, sailed in 1834 aboard the brig Pilgrim on a voyage from Boston around Cape Horn to California. Drawing from his journals, Two Years Before the Mast gives a vivid and detailed account, shrewdly observed and beautifully described, of a common sailor's wretched treatment at sea, and of a way of life virtually unknown at that time.

Great Read!

By
Thomas
on
03-15-08

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

By:
Mark Twain

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 14 hrs

Unabridged

Overall

58

Performance

51

Story

51

Joan of Arc's life and her accomplishments, as seen through the eyes of her childhood friend, are described with irony and brilliant insight into human nature. This was Twain's last book and he considered it to be his best.

A enjoyable recount of an inspiring figure

By
Nathan
on
12-31-15

Publisher's Summary

In 1861, young Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West. Roughing It is a hilarious record of his travels over a six-year period that comes to life with his inimitable mixture of reporting, social satire, and rollicking tall tales. Twain reflects on his scuffling years mining silver in Nevada, working at a Virginia City newspaper, being downandout in San Francisco, reporting for a newspaper from Hawaii, and more.

This humorous account is a patchwork of personal anecdotes and tall tales, many of them told in the “vigorous new vernacular” of the West.

Selling 75,000 copies within a year of its publication in 1872, Roughing It was greeted as a work of “wild, preposterous invention and sublime exaggeration” whose satiric humor made “pretension and false dignity ridiculous.” Meticulously restored from a variety of original sources, this text adheres to the author’s wishes in thousands of details of wording, spelling, and punctuation.

Public Domain (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“Describes, in dramatic incidents, the people he met, from desperadoes to Brigham Young.” (
The Reader’s Encyclopedia)

Story

The wild humorist of the West

With this volume, Grover Gardner has done all of Twain's best travel writing: Innocents Abroad, A Tramp Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, and now this. Of the four, Roughing It is one of the funniest. It's Twain's account of the six or so years he spent out West, first as an undersecretary to the secretary of the Nevada territory, who happened to be his brother Orion; then as a silver miner and entrepreneur; then a newspaperman, concluding with an extended account of his first travel assignment: a tour of the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) for a San Francisco newspaper. Without making the slightest effort to impersonate Twain, Gardner captures the spirit of the work flawlessly.

Twain's travel writing is like no one else's on earth. Without batting an eye, he can shift from the most accurate and evocative nature writing to the most outrageous tall tale - and back again. He can be brutally iconoclastic and awestruck by beauty in the same paragraph. (His glowing account of a night-time visit to Lake Tahoe is coupled with the story of how he and his partner managed to burn down several acres of timber on the shore of the lake by accident, destroying their investment in a budding timber concern.)

I'm still shuddering at his tale of venturing into the crater of an active volcano in Hawaii, picking a careful path through partially-hardened lava fields by torchlight.

If you've read Twain's novels and want more, give his travel writing a try. I waited way too many years to do so myself. Roughing It is one of the last I read, and is one of the best.

One of Twain's greatest works

Mark Twain had some amazing experiences, and was obviously very sharp and absorbed everything around him. A better book about the migration Westward, and the goldrush, I cannot imagine. Witty, insightful, and very well narrated by Grover Gardner... I did not want it to end. Caution: this book may not be appropriate for Mormons.

Gardner Captures Twain

Like many of Twain's travelogues, Roughing It shouldn't really be approached as a narrative with a driving plot. It's a collection of stories and anecdotes told by a master storyteller with a deep empathy for all the goofy characters he's met during his wanderings. It doesn't demand to be listened to straight through. You can stop and start after different chapters, treating each as a kind of short story or vignette that skewers and augments the "Wild West." If you have any interest in the history of the West, this needs to be part of your library as one of the best "on-the-ground" records of life during the Silver Rush and Gold Rush, what the Pony Express looked like in action, how you traveled the interior in a stagecoach, and what Hawaii looked like to someone who had never encountered the jungle. This is the origin story of Mark Twain as a character as Clemens is given the freedom to build his character's identity, and first put Mark Twain to the test in print and on stage.

One of the great pleasures of this recording is the voice of Gardner, whose tone and rhythm capture the prose of Twain and has transformed how I hear the great writer in my head. This is a beautifully produced audiobook and a perfect marriage between author and reader.

Funny, Historical, and Enjoyable

Twain???s travel writing isn???t your standard travel writing. Roughing It is tongue in cheek, sarcastic, fantastic, humorous, wild, and ridiculous. This relates the experiences of Mark Twain???s journey through the west and Hawaii. The narration is excellent, with an excellent understanding of the humor. I really enjoyed the history and texture of the American west. At a few points the humor is a bit dated, but overall this is a fun listen.

The Wild West, Tamed by Twain

There's nothing better than a night curled-up by the fire, with Mark Twain and his eccentric, peculiar, indispensable point of view. Here he tackles desperados, stagecoaches, mountains dappled with snow, the city of Salt Lake, and so on and so forth. It hardly matters what he says, he says it so damn well.

Excellent audible book

Thoroughly enjoyed this class Mark Twain story of his adventures in The West in the mid 1800s. Narrator did an excellent job reading the book and delivering in a fashion to keep my interest. I even enjoyed the various voices he used. I would highly recommend this entertaining Audible book.

"Mormon Bible...It is chloroform in print."

This was the first time I have read this book by Mark Twain and it certainly captures the spirit of the West in the 1860's. He also makes a side trip to Hawaii which is fun and interesting to know what Honolulu was like when still under a King.

My favorite parts of the whole book was his take on Mormons and their religion. He writes an anecdote about Brigham Young having over a hundred children and some man gave one of them a whistle. If you are a parent you will thoroughly understand Mr. Young's agony on this event. Now his wives are pestering him so that their children get equal treatment and a whistle of their own. As a mother of six, I understood this as a real problem.

Mark Twain's wit is sharp and his stories are hilarious in the way they are told. Grover Gardner does a fine narration on this volume.

As with all of Mr. Twain's books there is some racial bigotry that you need to overlook. I think it's better to get the original view than a politically correct version.

"All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the “elect” have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so “slow,” so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print."

A great adventure

Twain plans a 3 month journey West with his brother in hopes of becoming rich in the Nevada silver mines and fails. The trip evolves into a 7 year adventure spanning Utah, Nevada, San Francisco and Hawaii. Hilarity comes naturally and Twain's wit and charm shine in this collection of stories and clever anecdotes from his life.